Hey There!

I'm Candace and I'm a destination wedding & portrait photographer based out of the Washington, D.C. area. Chances are you won't find me in the DMV for too long. Come and explore my corner of the world with me!

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Hey There!

I'm Candace and I'm a destination wedding & portrait photographer based out of the Washington, D.C. area. Chances are you won't find me in the DMV for too long. Come and explore a bit of my world with me.

FEATURED CATEGORIES

July 25, 2017

Travel Must Haves | Adventures of Candace Nicole

Everyone who wanders the world a bit has their own trusty list of items that they wouldn’t travel without! Things that make our life complete or make traveling simpler or more convenient. I have found a few things that I wouldn’t travel without and I am totally about to share them with y’all!

First up being my trusty Kelty 44L backpack , This back pack has only needed to be checked once and thats because I could only take one bag as a carry on and my camera gear came first. Other than that, this baby is perfect for carry on sized travel. 9 times out of 10, I can always fit more in my backpack then I can within my carry on suit case. There are so many additional pockets and compartments. I love my kelty! Its fit on super small, economy flights and I never have issues fitting it in the above compartment. Just make sure you get can overhead space 😉 Thats a trick all on its own though.

Next up, the best thing since sliced bread! My TravelWise Packing Cubes ! I honestly don’t know what I did before packing cubes. Clearly lived a life less organized. I would sit and have to take everything out of my bag, one by one, until I found what I was looking for. Then I would have to put it all back in. Now that I have packing cubes, I have a cube for specifics. Usually, I put all of my tops, dresses and cami’s in one medium cube and then all of my bottoms and undies in the other. So instead of unpacking everything, I can pull out of my cubes and grab that specific item and put my cubes back. People even use them to separate dirty and clean clothes.

This one is my ultra love. This baby has been with me for 3 years now and even played as my camera bag and has been through it all. Every single country. My most prized possession, my Anti theft tote by Travelon! This baby is roomy. I have a camera bucket insert inside of mine for my camera gear that I carry, but it still has so much room! There are 3 pockets on the outside, the bag is slash proof, rfid protected and all of the zippers lock! You can even wrap the strap around a table or a chair leg so no one can run off with your bag. This bag is my baby and even though I ripped the inside pocket back in Greece, I came home and gave it a good stitching and its like brand new! I even miss this baby over my huge kelly moore camera bag. I love this bag.

You should never leave the house for a trip without a Master Lock! Seriously. Even for normal hotel, resort stays. You never know when you will need to lock something up or secure something and having a pad lock can help. I have two of these Master Lock for hostel stays and for times when not everything can fit into my locker. Most hostels provide lockers but don’t provide the locks, I always make sure that I have my locks with me so that I can always make sure my valuables are safe and secure.

Another SUPER important travel item, your travel adapter! I found and love the BESTEK Travel Adapter . I love that this baby has 3 plug outlets and 4 usb ports! Even though this baby is a bit more bulky than your average all in one travel adapter, I am literally able to charge every gadget I carry with me at once which is SO much more convenient than charging one by one… and I travel with plenty of gadgets! It makes a slight buzzing sound from the fan but I’ve never had a single hostel mate complain and in fact, I’ve made friends over my adapter by sharing with others! Although, I do have to replace my current BESTEK Travel Adapter as my last one was fried in Iceland due to a hair dryer. NEVER trust a hair dryer. Ever.

I don’t know about you, but when I travel, or even just normal daily life, my phone and gadgets die over time. And if you are like me, my phone is my life line, even when traveling. Most of the time when I travel, my phone is also my gps, so having it die is not an option because I am fairly horrible with reading a map unless there is a blue dot telling me exactly where I am, ok. I always make sure I have my Jackery Mini charger with me. I have to get a new one before my next trip as my last one went bye bye in the Caribbean sea. They are not waterproof people!

Pending on where I am headed, I will tote my trusty Joto Waterproof Phone pouch . Like I said, usually depends on where I am headed. If I am headed to a place where I plan to be in or around water or sand, I will bring this baby for extra protection for my phone. And even though this sounds weird, I also travel with an extra phone just in case something happens to my actual phone. It helps my back up phone also is jam packed with all of my good tunes. It saved my booty when I was in Antigua for work this year!

Because I travel carry on only, I usually don’t give myself the luxury of having an outfit for every single day (usually). I am totally ok with packing my Tide Sink Packets and washing clothes in the sink and re-wearing them in order to save my shoulders and the carry on weight! Ain’t no shame!

Don’t shy away guys, you can totally use this product too! I don’t know many gals that would travel anywhere in the world without the trusty Batiste Dry Shampoo ! They even have dry shampoo for brunettes so you don’t have to walk around looking like you rolled around in baby powder. Its a total life saver in case you can’t shower when you need too but want that fresh shower look!

This is an item I don’t actually own but I plan to purchase before my next trip, The Gorillapod ! I usually trek around with my FULL size tripod and while it does fit within my kelty backpack, it takes a lot of room and adds weight! This baby will give me a sturdy tripod that is super light weight and I can wrap onto something to take a selfie if need be! Win Win!

I love conditioner. I also have long hair. Traveling only carry on unfortunately limits me to only so much. I have airport ready see through bags that I scored from London Gatwick airport and can fit 3 3oz bottles into it for TSA approval. That means one shampoo, one conditioner, and one lotion (plus my dry shampoo and other liquids.) Not a lot if you ask me. I could kill the entire bottle of conditioner in two showers. Thankfully, I found Lush Solid Shampoo and can now save one bottle for extra conditioner! Most use the Lush products to get rid of the liquids all together but I just use it to give me MORE of what I really want! And thats soft, detangled, less frizzy hair!

Technically, I purchased this at Riteaid ha! But thankfully they have it on Amazon too so I can easily link it for you. I wanted my information and my passport to be safe and even though this isn’t the most stylish, I love my Travel Smart Passport Holder ! Its simple, easy, fits all of my cards, money and my passport but most importantly, keeps all of my life safe from scammers not just abroad, but home too!

This is definitely an essential! Its so essential, that I always travel with two pairs incase one breaks! Seriously, headphones are vital! I can NOT be on a plane without them. I’m not one to listen to a crying baby or over hear conversations. If there isn’t in-flight entertainment, I will listen to music. Plus, when I’m in my hostel bed and want to watch netflix, I can plug in my headphones and not disturb the rest of my room mates.

I am sure there are certain things that everyone has that makes their travel life easier. Let me know what essentials you need to get through a trip!